A Cohort Comparison Women's under-representation in the science labor force has been of great concern to policy makers and researchers: Despite making impressive strides in educational attainment in Science, Math, Engineering and Behavioral (SMEB) fields, women lag behind in entry into and retention in the labor force in these areas. These trends reflect diminished returns on the billion of dollars in public investments in educating this labor force, and for women's contribution to the US economy. Moreover, jobs in SMEB disciplines are linked to higher wages, prestige, favorable conditions and upward mobility, and consequently, to women's well-being;exiting the labor force or transitioning into lower status occupation, then, also has implications for women's quality of life. Understanding women's performance in the science labor force is therefore seen as crucial given their potential role in the US economy. Researchers have begun to explore the labor force dynamics, and the challenges to the optimal participation of women in the science-based workplace. The majority of this research, however, has focused on women in academia, evaluating programs to advance women in educational institutions. Only a handful of researchers have looked at other sectors, such as industry. Moreover, most scholarly research has been retrospective, rather than following women prospectively across their life cycles. The central goal of the proposed project is to identify the role of attitudes, personal characteristics and family circumstances, and institutional environments in women's career pathways over time. Data for our study will come from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth of 1979 and 1997, ongoing panel surveys of nationally representative samples of 12,686 young men and women who were aged 14-22 in 1979, and 8,984 men and women who were between 13 and 17 in 1997. Our data allow us to draw comparisons between women scientists, and men scientists, and women in other disciplines over a 27 year period for the older cohort and over 9 years for the younger cohort. The aging of the older cohort provides an unprecedented opportunity to examine the long-term consequences of marriage and childbearing on career pathways, as well as compare them to opportunities and barriers facing younger women. We plan to make specific policy recommendations for both entry and retention of women in the science workforce based on our results. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Given the mission of the NIH to improve the health and well being of the American population, it is essential to retain the scientific creativity of the diverse group of trained scientists and engineers who can do this work. By understanding the barriers or obstacles to the full utilization of the scientific workforce, particularly women trained as scientists and engineers, we seek to improve the quantity and quality of health and health-related research in the US.